A property tax reform bill recently passed the Iowa House and Senate and lawmakers are calling the legislation a more transparent way for local governments to be held accountable to show where revenue is coming from.

District 47 Representative Phil Thompson of Jefferson says the original problem the legislature saw is that cities and counties weren’t reducing their respective tax levy rates if property assessments increased, in order to adjust for the increase in tax revenue. Thompson explains what the bill requires local governments to do.

“What this bill does is it automatically reduces the (tax) levy rate to adjust to the assessment increases and then cities and local governments would then have to take a vote to raise the levy rate. So they actually are accountable to taxpayers of where they are getting the additional revenue.”

An area of concern from opponents of the bill came from city and county employees who claimed their wages and pensions would be at risk if governmental entities couldn’t raise their levies beyond the maximum of two-percent. Two-percent is the maximum allowed in the bill if taxpayers call for it on a referendum vote. Thompson says that’s simply not true.

“It is illegal for them (local governments) to not pay out these pensions. So those are not in direct competition, they have to pay those bills. What they do have to do is justify the growth in the government to the taxpayer. I really don’t see that as a bad thing at all. I think that’s absolutely what governments should do, and if you can’t sell what you’re doing then you probably shouldn’t be doing it at the end of the day.”

The bill is currently awaiting to be signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds.